UPDATED: Good Samaritan dies in Hartford highway fall

Published October 08. 2012 10:00AM | Updated October 08. 2012 1:06PM

Associated Press

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut State Police say an 83-year-old Maryland man has died after falling off an elevated highway in Hartford while trying to help another driver whose SUV had rolled over.

Troopers say Richard Herron of Elkton, Md., jumped over the center median of Interstate 84 eastbound early Monday morning to avoid a tractor-trailer that was nearing the accident scene and didn't realize there was a 35-foot drop. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Authorities say the other driver, 45-year-old Sheila Jenkins of Hartford, was traveling too fast around a curve on the wet highway and lost control of her vehicle at about 3 a.m. State police say she was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.